Road-spraying machine



April 15 1924. 1,490,522v

v J, M. sTocKER ROAD SPRAYlNG MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheep -.-April 15 1924.

J. M. STOCKER ROAD SPRAYING MACHINE' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. l5,i924.

iji' SITES vrt Vll'All/IES M. STOCKER, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

Application led October 14, i920. Serial No. 416,809.

To all whom t may conce/ra.'

Be it known that l. ,latins M. S'ioonnn, a citizen ot the United States,residing at Atlanta, in the county ot Fulton and State ot Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useiul Improvennents in Road-Spraying Machines;and I do hereby declare the following to be a tulh'clear. and exactdescription ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to portable spraying apparatus, and it pertainsmore particularly to automotive apparatus adapted to distribute abituminous or similar bindermaterial over the surface of a road.

It has for its objects to control accurately the quantity of binderdistributed over a given area; to render the control extremely iiexible;to prevent the binder remaining in the sprayer pipes after the valvethat regulates the tlow from the binder containing tank has been closedfrom being deposited irregularly on the road, and to eject the binderremaining in said pipes after the closing ot said Valve in such manneras to distribute it upon the road in the same even quantity as thebinder was distributed betere the closing ot the valve, and to preventany residue ot binder from freezing in the spray ouitices when thesprayer is not operating.

The invention consists, in general,- ot a motor vehicle carrying a tankand suitable spraying apparatus with means 'tor forcing a liquid binder'from the tank and through the spraying apparatus by air pressure. said`forcing means comprising an independent power unit unconnected with themotor that operates the vehicle. It further comprises the combination of:i tank and an air compressing system by means of which air undercompression may he forced into the tank and also, at will, into thespraying apparatus outside ot the tank; also a hinged spray headeradapted to be elevated, and when elevated, to drain the binder from thespray nozzles into buckets or other receptacles placed under the drainorifice so as to prevent the hardening ot the binder in the nozzles;also the adaptation to the vehicle of a speedometer, calibratedtoindicate multiples oit the actual speed ot the vehicle, in combinationwith a spraying apparatus attached to the same vehicle. It includes,also7 various combinations and sub-combinations more fully set forth inthe ensuing description. illustrated in the accompanying drawings anddefined in the appended claims.

In the said drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation ci the essential apparatus ot' myinvention, the tank being brokenaway in part to disclose the internalconstruction, and rthe motor vehicleupon which the apparatus issustained being shown somewhat diagrammatically; i

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure lr looking` in thedirection of the arrows, one of the spray header elevating devices beingillustrated in vertical cross sectiom the parts forward ot the elevatingdevices and theautomatic means for holding the spray header at the sameelevation having` been omitted tor the sake ot clearness 5/ Figure 3 isa section on the line 3 8 of Figure 2.

Figure 4t is a section taken transversely through the joint connectingthe `branch pipes that lead to the spray header with the pipe to whichsaid header is hinged;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 illust-rates the parts shown in Figure 5 arranged in positionto drain the binder from the spray nozzles;

Figure 7 is a transverse section on the line 7 7 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is front elevation of the speedomcter and a portion ot theoperating mechanism therefor;

Figure 9 is au elevation ot the air c0m pressing power unit.

The 'trarne ot a motor trnckis indicated at l: 2 represents the troutwheels: 3 the rear wheels; 4; the engine hood enclosing any usualinternal comlnistion or other engine adapted to be geared to the rearwheels 3 oit the truck. It will be understood that the usual enginecontrols are placed within the reach ot' the driver occupying the seat5, and that the driver controls the speed et the vehicle thereby, andsteers it by means of the steering Wheel 6.

In the embodiment illustrated a tank l() is cradled upon suitablecradles or checks ll. resting upon a trame 12 supported by the truckframe l. At one side of said tank an air tank 13 is mounted on suitablechocks o r cradles such as 141; and held in proper position on the frame12. Rising from the top ot the tank l() is an air dome l5 into which istapped a pipe 16 leading from the air tank 13. The pipe i6 may becontrolled by a hand valve 16a while a suitable reducing valve orpressure regulator 17 is placed between the hand valve 16a and the dome15.

An internal combustion engine 2O of any suitable type and number ot'cylinders, a single cylinder engine being illustrated, is mounted on abase 21, while an air compressor 22 stands alongside of said engine 2()upon the same base 21. A. common crank shaft 23 is connected to thepistons of both engine and air compressor. Although I have shown theengine andair compressor built as a' unit it will be obvious that thepurposes ot' my invention may be subserred to an extent by coupling` aninternal coinbustion engine, unconnected with the vehicle drivingmechanism, with a suitable air compressor, the principal object being tohave the air compressing plant` independent otthe motive power unit sothat it will not be alected by the speedot the vehicle, and evencompression may be maintained in the air pressure system independent ofthe speed that the vehicle may be travelling. From the air compressor apipe 24 is connected to the tank 13, said pipe 24 being controlled by asuitable hand valve 24a. By means ot the air compression plant describedair may be maintained in the tank under a predetermined pressure, thereducing valve 17 regulating the pressure within said tank. Tank 13 isnot intended as a source of reserve pressure but rather to absorb thepulsations ot the air compressor and give a steady flow ot compressedair into said tank 10. The pressure in the tank 13 is intended to bekept only very slightly higher than the pressure within the tank 10 andthe pressure regulator 17 will be adjusted accordingly. The pressurewithin the tank 13 may be controlled by means of a pressure operatedswitch communicating withv the tank 13 and governing the engine 20. Thismechanism is not shown. The diderence in the pressure intank 13 and tank10 is used `tor purposes hereafter described.

At the bottom ot the tank 10 is a trap or depression 25. From thebottoinot the depression a pipe 26 projects downward, controlled by avalve 26a, below which lateral pipes extend to each side of thevehicle,said lateral pipes having suitable control valves; Through thesepipes the tank willbe filled with hot road binder prepared at a suitableheating plant, all as fully disclosed in my application Serial No.319,944. A suitable vent 15a in the top ot the dome provides for theoutlet of air as the binder is pumped into the tank and, it desired, thesaid vent may be controlled by a float 15b so-that when the binder hasfilled the tank to a desired level the tloat will close the vent.

Having an open end disposed in the trap or depression at a. levellowerthan the general bottom wall ol tank 10 is a pipe 30 connected byan elbow 31 with a horizontal pipe 32 which extends out substantiallythrough the center oit the head 33 ot the tank and is secured' therein.rJ'Che lower end tace of pipe is substantiallv horizontal or parallelwith the bottom or depression 25. `iithin the pipe 32, either inside oroutside said tank but preferably inside, as shown, is a check valve 34,adapted to open under outward pressure 'from the tank and to ,closeunderthe influence oit backward pressure. Outside ot the head 33 ot the tankand close thereto is a valve 35, preterably ot' the quick acting type,designed to be placed within reach ot the operator occupyingv the rearot the trame. Rearward ot the valve 35 is an elbow 36 ot the swing typeadapted to rock around a horizontal axis. Extending downward trom theelbow 36 is a pipe 37 adapted to be lengthened or shortened by means otan expansion joint 33. The lower end of the pipe 37 is coupled to anelbow 39 also ot the swing type which is also coupled to a` horizontalpipe section 40 and is adapted to rock around the axis of said section40 the latter being tapped into a T 41, Fig. 2. Extending horizontallyin opposite directions Atrom the T 41 are sections et pipe 42, to theends of which are coupled at right angles pipe sections 43 leading to a,spray header 44 preferably consisting orn two transverse parallel pipesconnected by oranches 45, said pi aes 44 having nozzles 44a trom whichthe .iquid binder may issue.

The side beams ot the -frame12 extend to the rear of the truck trame asshown in Figure 1. Upon each of the beams of said trame 12 is erected apair ot upright guides 50. Between these guides 5() is a verticallymovable guide member 51 and slidable vertically within the member 51 isa bon slide 52. Projecting trom the upper side ot' said box slide 52 isa screw 53, said screw passing through the top of the member 51 andcarrying a hand nut 54. As shown in my said prior application said nutsmay be formed with sprocket teeth and be connected by a sprocket chain55, it desired, in order that the operation of one nut may operate theother.

Slidable longitudinally through the box slides-52 are a pair of bars 60,Fig. 2, which are connected, in alinement with each other, by a rack 61.Extending tromside member to side member of the trame 11 is a supportingplatform or other suitable bridging member 62. Journale-d in theplatform or bridging member (i2 is an upright shaft 63 carrying a handwheel 64 at its upper end. Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 63 isa long toothed pinion 65 the teeth of which arein mesh with lthe teethof the rack 61. Secured to the other ends of the bars 60 are CFI,

tor.

depending straps the .lower ends of which are rigidly a'tiised to thepipe 42 near the ends. A strap 71 depends :trom the rack 31 and rigidlyaiiixed to pipe 40. Vhen, therefore, the hand wheel 34 is rotated thebars 69 are moved longitudinally, either` to right or lett, and carrywith them the pipes 42 which are connected by the pipes 43 with thespray headers By this means the operator may cause the binder to bedeposited further to the right or to the .lett and may cause a stripe.oit' binder being deposited to follow and match up with one that hasbeen previously made.

ln order to automatically hold the spray header at substantially thesame distance above the road surface at which it has been adjusted bymanipulation ot the hand wheel 54, regardless of the rising and fallingof vthe trame 1 as the load in tank 10 varies, a train ot compoundlevers 72, 7 3 is provided` Said levers extend trom the rear axle tothevertically movable guide member 51 and operate in response to themovements of the frame 1 relative to the rear axle as the spring 3yields and recovers'to torni. This mechanism is not a partI of theinvention claimed in this application but is disclosed in my applicationSerial No. 319,944, before reiterred to.

Extending from the air tank 13 is an air pipe- 80 having a valve 81,preterably of the quick acting type, within reach of the opera- Betweenthe valve 31 and the pipe 32, with which said pipe 8O communicates, is acheck valve' 82, the said check valve being adapted to open underpressure. from the tank 13 and to close against back pressure. Thepurpose oit the pipe 8O and associated valvesv to admit air pressureinto the spraying pipes before. valve 35 has been closed but is about tobe closed, in order to torce out the contents ot said spraying pipes insuch manner as to distribute their contents upon the road atsubstantially the same rate as that at which the contents oit the tank10 was distributed before the closing ot the valves 34 or 35. Thepressure thus adinitted'is not materially greater than that in tank 10,but is suiiiciently greater to close the cheek valve 34.k y

ln order to Crain away residue of binder remaining in the spray nozzlesand piping leading thereto atter spraying has ceased the spray header 44is pivotally connected to the said pipe sections 42 so that the saidspray header may be swung upward on said pivotal connections, thusinverting the spray nozzles. ln the Aupper of each'pipe section 43,considering now said sections as depending in normal operating positionof the sprayer, is an outside iitting 90 having one radial port `'91into lwhich the pipe 43 is tapped and a second radial port 92 which maybe denominated a drainage port angularly separated therefrom asillustrated particularly in Figs. 5 and 6. The said fitting 99 issleeved over an inside fitting 93 secured to the pipe 42. Said iitting93 is provided with ports 94 and 95 separated to the same extent as arethe ports 91 and 92 but in a reversed sense or circumferentialdirection. Then the ports 91 and 94 are in registration as illustratedin Figure 5, which 94, (and all others) are out of registration whichhappens when the spray header is swinging outward and upward, the flowinto the spray header is cut oit; and when said spray header is invertedor reaches a position above the horizontal as shown in dotted lines inFigure 1 and in full lines in Figure 6, the ports 91 come intoregistration with the ports 95 and the drainage ports 92l come intoregistration with the inside drainage ports 94, so that any liquidbinder that may be in the piping between the tank and drainage portsorin the header will flow out through the ports 94 and 92 and may becaught by a bucket or other receptacle placed under said ports for thepurpose. The main body of the binder will have been driven out by thepressure of air entering through the pipe 80, but some residue is likelyto cling to the sides of the piping and this residue tending to flowdown intoy the small oriices ot the sprayer would be likely to hardentherein and plug the spray orifices it the header were left in operatingposition. For this reason the swing spray header shown associated withthe described means for dis# charging the drip is extremely useful inap? paratus of this character.

Mounted on the dash board is a speedometer 90 which may be ot any knowntype and mode ot operation and coupled, as indicated in Figure 1, to oneot the front or steering wheels by a iiexible shaft 91 and gears 92 and93. The gearing is, however. no t proportioned to indicate the actualspeed but to indicate a multiple oi the actual speed,-preiterably forconvenience, to indicate ten times the speed actually travelled. Thegear 92 will theretore have ten times as many teeth as the gear 93 thatdirectly opi crates the indicator mechanism within the casing. With aspeedometer thus calibrated very small. differences ot speed ywill beindicated very plainly upon the speedometer, and the operator mayaccurately adjustthe speed of the truck sov as to deposit the requirednumber of gallons oibinder upon a given area of roadway. A small clutch94C enables the. speedometer to be disconnected when desired.

in operation the apparatus will be filled at the central heating plantand thereafterl driven to the area of road to be coated with thebinder., By previous experiments and calculations the degree of pressurerequired upon the binder in the tank in order to give a predeterminedflow in gallons per minute will have been determined. The requiredpressure will then be established in the tank lO by the operation of theindependent air compressing plant. This pressure will be determined bythe speed of operation of internal combustion engine 20, which will beof the automatic speed'regulating type, and by the pressure regulator17. The air compressing plant will be operated so as to maintain in thetank 13 a pressure slightly, but not very considerably, above thepressure requiredin the tank 10. The vehicle will then be started andcaused to travel over the road at a speed previously calculated so as'to distribute a certain number of gallons over a certain predeterminedarea of road. The number of gallons discharged per minute by the airpressure established being known, it will be easy to determinehow fast'the machine must travel in order to distribute the desired volume overa given area. The driver on the seat 5 will then control the motivepower engine so as to cause the truck to move at the desired speed. Inorder i that he may do this with accuracy, the speedometer described isprovided.

It is contemplated that an operator shall take a position upon the rearof the machine within reach of the valves 35 and 81 and of the handwheels 54f'and 64. As the machine advances over the roadway the operatorbv manipulating the hand wheel G4 will keep the stripe of binder beingdeposited in an even course; if the machine is moving alongside of aprevioush;T deposited stripe, the operator will be able to make thestripe being deposited match with the one previously deposited. Theheader will be adjusted above the roadway at a distance so that thebinder sprayed from the nozzles will produce an even coating. Theadjustment will be such that the bases of the cones of spray willtouchveach other in order that there may be no streaks of uncovered roadleft. Adjustment by means of the hand wheel 54 may be necessary as thebinder cools in the tank 10. When a strip of roadway has been coveredandl it is desired that no binder shall be deposited, the operator opensthe valve 81v the mass of'binder in the piping beyond the valve 34E willbe forced toward the spray orifices to be spread upon the road atsubstantially the same rate of speed as it was being spread before theadmission of air to the pipe 8O into said pipe 32. After the valve 81has been opened to admit pressure into said pipe 32 the operator willquickly close the hand valve 35. After the binder has been forced fromthe spray header by air pressure through the pipe 80 with the valve 35closed, the valve 8l will be closed; the check valve 82 will preventanything from fiowing back into said pipe. The spray header 54 will thenbe swung upward in its position shown in Figure l by dotted lines. Anybinder clinging to the walls of the pipes that would tend to flow slowlyinto the spray orifices and clog them when the spray header is inspraying position will now tend to flow backward to the hinged joint andout of the drainage orifices 92. Also binder remaining in piping 37 and43 will flow toward the drainage orifices. Thus little orne binder willremain in the piping outside of tank l0, so that when the apparatus isto be used again there will be no obstructions to the free flow ofbinder through the pipes and spray orifices. The spray header may beheld in its upturned position by any suitable tie or hook if foundneedful.

Having thus described my invention in such manner as to enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

l. In an apparatus of the class described, a tank, a spray header, apipe connecting said tank with said spray header, said pipe comprisingtwo horizontal sections connected` by an upright section, swing elbowsat the. ends of the upright section, an expansion joint in said uprightsection, andV means whereby the said spray header may be raised up anddown or moved horizontally to right or left.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a tank having a depression inits bottom, a spray header, means for applying pressure to the contentsof the tank, rigid piping leading horizontally through a head ofsaidtank approximately at the center thereof, and thence extending downwardto. said spray header, said piping having an open end extending to apoint within the tank a'djacent the bottom thereof. and movableconnections in the downward extension, a quick action valve in said pipelocated close to the exterior of said head, a support extending rearwardof said tank, means mounted? on` said support for adjustably supportingthe spray header, and means above said support whereby the sprayheadersupporting means may be adjusted vertically andhorizontally;

8. In apparatusl of the class described, a tank, a spray header, a`conduit `for convey-` ing liquid 'from the tank to said spray header, avalve for controlling the loW of said liquid through said conduit, ahinged connection between said header and said conduit, constructed andarranged to permit said spray header to be inverted about an aXisparallel With said header', said conduit having a drain port that isopened by the inversion of the spray header so as to drain the sprayheader and conduit.

4f. In apparatus of the class described, a tank, a spray header, aconduit leading from said tank to said spray header, said conduit havinga drainage oriice, a hinged conne@ tion between said spray header andsaid conduit, said flexible connection permitting the spray header to beinverted, and a means controlled by the movements` of the spray headerto and from its inverted position for opening and closing said drainageorifice.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a tank, a spray header, aconduit connecting said tank with said spray header, a hinge joint insaid conduit comprising concentric hollow members, each member havingangularly separated orifices so disposed that when the spray header isin normal operative position, the spray nozzles are in communicationwith said tank With the said orifices closed, and in another position adrainage passage is opened by the registration of the oriiices in saidmembers.

6. ln apparatus oi" the class described, a tank, an elongated sprayheader, a pipe parallel with said spray header, said pipe havingangularly spaced oriiices in its opposite ends, a sleeve surroundingeach end of said pipe, said sleeve having angularly spaced orifices, apipe connecting each sleeve with the spray header, said pipe being incommunication with one of the oriices in the sleeve, the orifices beingso disposed that when the spray header is in normal operative positionthe spray nozzles are in communication with said tank and the orificesin said pipe and sleeve are closed, and in another position a drainagepassage Will be Opened by the registration of the orifices in said pipeand sleeve.

ln testimony whereof l adir: my signature.

JAMES M. STOCKER.

